KIEV - Ukrainian police are investigating at attack on a rabbi in a Kiev street that the man's wife said on Friday was clearly an anti-Semitic attack. Russia has branded Ukraine's new authorities as 'fascists' backed by anti-Jewish militants in justifying its takeover of Crimea and hostility to those who overthrew the Moscow-backed Ukrainian president last month. Ukrainian Jewish leaders have said they have generally seen little sign of a growing threat to their community. Racheli Cohen, the wife of rabbi Hillel Cohen, said Thursday's attack by two men on her husband was clearly an anti-Semitic act. 'They struck him in the leg, shouting anti-Semitic slurs,' she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). Kiev police, quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency, said they were looking for two men who shouted anti-Jewish insults at the rabbi and struck him with sticks before making off in a car. Cohen runs the Ukrainian branch of Hatzalah, a worldwide volunteer emergency services group for Jewish communities. Jewish leaders have warned of a risk of anti-Semitic violence due to general instability in the country. But many play down the importance of far-right groups that had a role in the uprising, some of which admire nationalists who at times during World War II joined forces with invading Nazi troops. Last month, a provincial synagogue was firebombed and there were some assaults on Jews in the streets in previous months.
